A Noble's Sacrifice
by Bznboy
Summary: The story of Ib has passed. Now what happens next? Garry, Mary and Ib. Two escapes at the cost of the other one. Yet, why does she continue to haunt his dreams? Disclaimer: I do not own Ib or their characters, I only own the story. Slight AU. Rated T to be safe since there are times I would put in swears. Slightly Garry-centered. but follows the views of Ib and Mary as well.
1. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ib or their characters, I only own this story.**

* * *

The gallery was bright, for some reason. There were no visible interior lightings, yet the floor seems to glow a dull grey while the walls a bright red. Perhaps that's where the light comes from, a girl wondered as she wandered around the gallery.

Or they could be from the exhibits, she mused while stopping in front of the very statues that had chased her for god knows how long.

Maybe it's just the floor that is dark…

The feeling of something missing filled her while she observed a painting of a Lady dress in a red evening gown. She headed back to the most interesting part of the gallery, the Fabricated World. While this painting was titled as such, there was movement in the paintings as well, making it seem like a television from her point of view. What's does Fabricated mean? She silently thought.

Watching the people moved about in the paintings makes her feel so lonely, why does she feel that she belongs there? As she tried to sort out her feelings, she failed to notice a ragged, purple hair man walk up to her. When he tapped on her shoulder, she jumped, startled.

"Pardon me, Young lady. You seem lost." He offered. The girl looked at him from head to toe, trying to understand why he looked so familiar.

"Hello?"

"Garry?" She asked in reply.

"Garry? Oh, I'm not him, my name is Guertena. Guertena Weis." The purple haired man politely replied. It felt so odd that

"Goo… Goo-Anna Weis?" She tried pronouncing his name.

"No, my dear. Guertena, Guer-ten-na." He enunciated each syllabus slowly on the second try.

"Guer-ten-na… Guer-tena… Guertena?" She slowly tried until it felt natural. Guertena beamed when she finally pronounced his name right.

"So, what is your name?" He asked. The young lady stared at him for a moment, processing the question and formulating an answer. Her mouth opens and gave the reply.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the real world, Garry stood in front of a picture, seemingly watching the painting that looks like a drawing of a nine-year-old. How did Guertena become so famous from such amateur paintings? He shrugged and moved on to the next painting.

He stood a distance away from the painting, Lady in Red, for it felt like that Lady might just crash out of her painting. He does not know why, but it felt that way to him. Stepping in front of a sculpture named Embodiment of Spirit, he started tearing up for no reason.

I'm crying? Why? He asked himself when he felt his cheeks getting wet. The rose felt as if it may break any moment, so fragile yet looking strong. Like a certain girl he had met. Her face was unrecognizable, but somehow he knew that she had red eyes.

"Excuse me, sir?" A young, childish voice caught his attention. His reflexes kicked in and he spun around, immediately putting some distance between the child and the man. Her curious eyes noticed the wetness of his cheeks and asked about it.

"Oh, it's because…" He stared at the rose sculpture for a moment, trying to recall why.

"It's because when I see this rose, it felt as if I had failed to keep my promise to someone…" He sighed.

"A promise? What is it?" She continued to pester.

"I don't really know… I don't know who I made that promise to, or what the promise was either. She could be dead for all I know…" He explained.

"Oh? Hmm…" The young girl tries to see the connection between the statue and his explanation. After a while, her face crunches up in full concentration, before shaking her head in defeat.

"Ah, I'm sorry if I said anything to trouble you…" The young adult tried to console her, but she shook her head.

"No, it's not your fault; it's quite surprising for me to see something so beautiful with such a connection." The girl replied cheerfully. He shook his head.

"No need to mind what I had said." He tells her while stealing a glance at his watch, shoot, it was this late already? He still had to complete his design.

"Well, I need to go. Bye." Garry apologizes as he leaves the blond girl. Before he went down the stairs, his eyes caught sight of a picture. The painting depicted a young girl, around nine years old, holding a red rose in her left hand while waving her right. Behind her was a giant wooden door, with vines of roses seeped through the gaps between the door frame and the door, about to trap the girl. What caught his attention were the two other roses on the floor, a yellow rose and a blue one.

Garry isn't a rose expert, but he knew that blue roses do not exist. Compared to the other painting, this picture was extremely detailed, from the red roses on the vines to her resigned face and her cheerful smile. Garry remembered that there was a painting of the Hanged Man minutes ago, when did it change to this?

Suddenly, the vines of the painting moved to bind the girl from behind. Startled, the young girl struggled to free herself from the vines as they dragged her through the doors. Behind those doors, was an assortment of sharp and dangerous objects, from palette knifes to European Longswords to Japanese Katanas. The brunette was impaled mercilessly, yet her face still had that resigned smile directed to him as her crimson orbs dulled. Garry took a step backwards and fell down as the vines started moving towards him.

Nearby critics stared at the fashion designer and he landed on his rear, a well-dressed guard came up to him and asked if he was alright. Shaking out of his stupor, he gave a smile and replied.

"Nothing is wrong, just that I was amazed by the feelings poured in it."

At that, the people started chattering, wondering if he was speaking the truth. Garry moved to see the title of the painting, doing as much as he could to avoid seeing the painting.

"Noble's… Sacrifice?" He muttered before looking at the picture again. The painting's eyes were closed, so why did he know that her eyes were red, or even the fact that he recognizes her. He couldn't put a name on her face, was it Isabelle? Or was it Bernadette?

* * *

While the purple haired teenager studied the painting, the young blonde girl had walked past him, and into the arms of her parents. Despite the obvious difference, the girl still calls them Mum and Dad. They had adopted her after several attempts of trying to have one, all which did not bear fruit. The young girl did not care, calling both brunettes as her mother and father.

"Well, Mary, are you ready to leave?" Iris, the long-haired brunette with red eyes asked her daughter.

"Yes, Mummy. I've finished looking at all the paintings." The blue-eyed girl chirped.

"Well, there's a macaroon shop just down the street from here, what do you say we go there for tea?" The other brunette asked with his dark brown eyes twinkling.

"Yay! Macaroons!" The girl loudly cheered and danced around while many critics stared at the troublesome noisemaker. The lady shrugged her shoulder to them and led her down the stairs.

While her parents talked to each other, Mary glanced at the Purple haired boy she saw looking at the statue earlier. Despite her act of trying of connect his feelings, she also felt unhappy whenever she saw the Embodiment of Spirit in full view. She felt the same way as he did; she had failed someone. She did not know who she had failed or even what she had failed, but the feeling were there.

As she passed by the man, she raised a question to him.

"My name's Mary, what's yours?" The teenager seems surprised at meeting her again, but curtly replied.

"My name is Garry Weis." He answered with a smile. The smile soon crept into young Mary's face.

"Why, hello there, Garry." Mary's father had overheard their conversation, and joined them. "My name's Bernard. Tell me, how did you meet my daughter here?" Garry merely raised an eyebrow at his accusing question, but answered politely. It wouldn't do to anger these people, they were nobles.

"We met up when we were both looking at the Embodiment of Spirit, she asked why I was crying there, and I told her that the statue seems to make me feel sadden."

"Really? It didn't feel that way to me." Iris had caught up to them at the reception, and joined in the conversation.

"It felt fragile, like the bonds we strive to keep."

"Maybe I had betrayed someone then?" Garry wondered. Mary's parents glanced at each other, this guy seemed so chivalrous, and just who would he have betrayed?

"Well… It may not matter anyway. I got to go, I might not have betrayed someone, but I certainly would if I cannot submit my design by my deadline. I'm losing valuable time now." He explained to the family and handed his contact card to Iris before leaving. His fingers moved to grab the lemon candy stuffed in his pocket to stop the urge to smoke again.

Except he did not have it anymore, he frantically searched all the coat's pockets, trying to suppress the urge with only his willpower. He did find a lacy handkerchief, but did not bother to look at it properly.

Guess I have to make a side trip, he sighed as he went into a nearby convenience store for some lemon candy.

* * *

**So, now you know who had escaped and who had not. Well, it was implied anyway. The story would not update a lot, usually only when I've finally felt a suitable plot to continue from. This was actually one new ending I had thought of, if Ib had decided to ignore the fact that Mary was a painting. I am experimenting quite a bit now, and suggestions would always keep me thinking. Who knows? Maybe your suggestion would be taken in.**

**Next chapter would be about Garry remembering his experience in the Crazed Gallery, and how he tries to get back in. What kind of effect would that cause? I know the main storyline, but I don't know about the minor details, this is where your suggestion would fill up. I will credit you if I do take your idea, though.**


	2. Unbalanced Box

**Bizen: I'm not dead! Yay… Haha… eh… no one cares, do they? –sigh- Let's start with a disclaimer.**

**Ib: Bizen does no own Ib or their characters, only this story.**

**Bizen: Oh… the new update! That was fun completing it! I know I promised that Garry would go to the psychiatrist, but nothing really came to me about this kind of counseling. But the story would be now ready for the psychiatrist chapter coming up next.**

* * *

Guertena was a strange guy, Ib finally decided. He and Ib were looking around the exhibits when Guertena suddenly found inspiration from his own art. Currently they were running down a flight of stairs that Ib was certain was not there before. At their destination was a dark red room, filled with strange items. In front of the duo was a giant hole that definitely couldn't be jumped over, but that did not seem to faze Guertena at all.

Guertena… couldn't be Guertena Weiss, could he? But he was found dead not too long before her visit to the gallery.

"Ahh… I forgot about this…" Guertena sighed, perhaps in mock amusement? Ib couldn't read his face well enough, but it definitely was not disappointment or sadness.

Ib watched silently as Guertena unfolded a piece of paper from his back pocket, and began sketching at the edges of it. After a small amount of sketching, Ib finally realized he was sketching a frame of a picture. Confidently, he placed the sheet of paper over the hole, barely reaching both sides.

"You're not going to-"Ib never finished her sentence as Guertena casually step onto the piece of paper. Much to her surprise, the piece of paper held his weight and he made it to the other side.

"Are you coming along?" Guertena asked as if he had not done the impossible.

Tentatively, she place one of her foot onto the paper, testing its support. When she was certain it would hold out, she elegantly strode across the paper, eyes closed, silently wishing that it would not break.

A tap on her shoulder told her she had made it across. Opening her eyes, she glanced at the smile embedded on Guertena's face.

"I'm sorry; I didn't tell you beforehand that you could do that if you continued to instill part of your spirit onto the image. Don't be afraid, okay?"

Spirit… Something about spirit… Ib tried to remember what someone had read to her before.

_So today, I shall immerse myself in work, so as to impart my own spirit into my creations._

"You can instill your spirit into them, even now?"

"Of course, I may be dead, but that doesn't mean my mind isn't in my world, now does it?

That would be wonderful to learn, Ib thought to herself.

I could finally bring pictures to life.

"Ib? Are you okay?"

"A? I-I'm okay… I just wanted to learn it as well."

"Oh? I would _love_ to teach it to you as well."

* * *

"_Hey! IB! I think I found the exit!"_

_I turned to the direction of the sound, listening to the conversation between the two girls._

"_Really? Where is it?"_

"_It's over there! Let's go! Let's go!"_

_Hearing the footsteps soften, I quickly moved to catch up with them. The yellow-haired girl that resembled Mary grimaced on seeing me behind, while the brunette, face completely blurred gave a feeling of happiness to me._

"_Garry, Come on…" Her voice was indistinguishable, yet I could still understand what she was saying._

_We had finally reached the exit that Mary had pointed out. A white painting that seemed to move. The frame was long gone, giving us the illusion of another room._

"_Let me try it." I told the two girls before climbing into the picture. Immediately I could hear the voices from the gallery, including the background music._

"_I'm really in!" I exclaimed in surprised._

"_But… One of us still has to stay here…" The blonde girl whispered sadly. The brunette took noticed of it, and told her._

"_You should go in."_

"_What? But I- I belong here! It's not fair of me to take your existence from you!"_

"_But I don't want you to be sad."_

"_And I don't want to take away your place, you belong there. You should go."_

_As they continued to squabble, I noticed that their voice seem to fade away._

"_Hey, Ib, you need to hurry, it's going to bring us out soon!" I warned them._

_The brunette then did something I thought she would never do._

_She pulled out her red rose and snaps the stalk cleanly into two._

"_IB!" I screamed out, watching her fall limp onto the floor._

_The Mary look-a-like had her pupils dilated, moving between both to me and the brunette. Finally she whispered something and jumped into my arms._

"_Let's go!" I yelled as the room brightened up way beyond my eyes could take._

_I'm sorry…_

* * *

Garry woke up in shock, his breathe quick and shallow. Immediately he searched around for the cigarette lying somewhere in his own room, before sighing and popping a lemon candy into his mouth.

What was that dream… He thought while sucking away the urges.

The blonde looked similar to Mary, the one he had met at his great-grandfather's gallery. But the brunette's face was too blurred to see, although red eyes weren't too common in this country.

Thinking about it, didn't Iris and Bernard have red eyes? Were Mary and the Brunette sisters, then? But he did not recall seeing anyone at the same age as Mary, but with soft brown hair and crimson eyes.

He looked at the time, cursing at the time he woke up. There was still a full four more hours till the next day could be officially called. Finishing up the rest of the candy, Garry went back to sleep again.

* * *

"_Hey, Nemo, Dory, could you move away? We need to go back up." I told the dolls. It seemed so strange, one moment I wanted to kill them, now I'm letting them escape._

_The dolls merely shook their heads, preventing us from getting out of the toy box._

"_Huh? What do you mean? I'm just helping them to find their way out. I know I'd told you to block the entrance, but I'd think they need to go home…" Why won't you let me out?_

_A loud thud appeared at the side of the walls, catching my attention. I read the words carefully, trying to understand._

"_Ib… Where… are you? I'm… lonely?"_

"_Ib? Who's calling Ib?" Garry asked._

"_I… don't know…" Was the only reply I could give._

_CCCCREEEAAAKKK_

"_Wha…What was that?"_

"_No… idea…" Garry replied, huddling together with us._

_One by one, the dolls, mannequins and statues began to move towards us. I gave a terrified scream._

"_Let's us move already. Nemo! Dory!"_

"_Please…" Somewhere in my shouting I overheard Ib speaking to them. _

_What is she doing? She's an outsider, isn't she?_

_To my surprise, the dolls complied and moved away, we began running out of the room._

_When we reached the pink room, where I'd hidden my painting, I collapsed onto the floor, out of breath. _

"_What'd just happened?" I yelled, completely shocked._

"_The hel- I mean heck I know! They started moving on their own!" Garry replied._

"_No! Why did Ib's voice move them instead of mine!?" Garry froze up on hearing that, unsure of what to say._

"_You mean…"_

"_No, this is just not reality anymore…" Ib quietly replied._

"_What?" I asked her._

"_You need to wake up… You know what happened…" Was all I heard from her before I passed out._

* * *

Iris was unsure what to do. Mary just kept screaming for Ib after waking up suddenly. Hearing her cry, she had woken up and moved to comfort her the way she always did.

"What's wrong?"

"Ib… It's Ib…"

"Who's Ib?" Iris had asked her. Mary paused her crying for a moment, as if trying to remember who she was before crying again.

"She's… I… girl… don't know…"

"Calm down dear. Calm down before speaking."

"But… I took… her place…"

"Took who's placed, dear? Lilian's? You both wanted the top spot, who could blame you?"

"No… Not Lilian's… Ib… Ib… where… you go…?"

Iris sighed, Mary had been perfectly fine before she went to Guertena's gallery, but she's gotten pretty jumpy ever since. The first day was the worst. Mary had tried to kill herself with the kitchen knife. It took all of Bernard's effort to stop Mary from plunging the knife into her breast. It was there she learned about Ib.

Iris would have dismissed the idea of Ib being a figment of her imagination, had the similarities between Ib and Mary been too clear. Ib was, like Mary, a lovable child. She's always strived to do her best, from understanding art to even helping her parents.

Apparently, she had soft black hair like Bernard and shining ruby eyes like her. Which puzzled Iris when a memory of a nine-year old girl with soft, shoulder length black hair and red eyes, wearing a white collared, long sleeved shirt and red, knee-length skirt sitting in their living room, quietly reading a book appeared in her mind.

Was that Ib? It was strange, like a distant memory.

As Mary quietly fell asleep again, Iris glanced at the dark figure of her husband. They nodded simultaneously, silently agreeing with one another.

We need to bring Mary to a psychiatrist, and soon.

* * *

**Short chapter, I usually write at least two thousand words. But meh… I really should stop before the Psychiatrist incident.**

**Ib: Please don't spoil the next incident.**

**Bizen: Huh? I didn't say anything.**

**Ib: You were about to…**

**Bizen: But…**

**Ib: No buts…**

**Bizen: Aww…**

**Ib: See you in the next chapter. The more the reviews come, the faster it would be produced.**

**Bizen: Oi! You shouldn't say something like that!**

**Ib: But it's true, you would be more inspired if the followers commented their thoughts in it.**

**Bizen:… Ugh… Fine… -mutters- Actually, I was only doing this to pull the story out of my head –mutters-**


	3. Selfless Guard

**Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter!**

**Ib: It's been... about a month.**

**Don't blame me… I couldn't get anything running in the story…**

**Ib: And yet you finally got a plot line today? I was pretty sure you wanted to write this chapter…**

**Okay, you got me. I've started poly a month back and was learning the basics of making a game. But nevermind my life now, it's so great now. I'm glad I chose game designing as my diploma!**

**Ib: But you won't be able to write chapters as quickly.**

**So we shall learn to take in every free time we have to get a chapter up. From the bus journey to the hour-long breaks between classes! –continues ranting on and on-**

**Ib: -sweatdrops- enjoy the story while he runs his mouth.**

* * *

"_I'm afraid I don't understand what's wrong, Mr Weiss."_

"_It's fine… I don't understand it myself, which is why I sought your help."_

"_Then I guess the expectations of me is too high."_

"_No, its fine, I am not able to make heads or tails of this absurd story, or even who Ib is…"_

"_Ib, as you named it, may be the character of your humanity, you see yourself as more inexperienced, more scared of things you do not know…"_

"_I know… but maybe… maybe Ib could be alive somewhere."_

"_I do not know either, your own mind is repressing some memories, memories that hold key to the answer. I would suggest you to a hypnotist to find out what you are trying to forget."_

"_Yes… Maybe I should… The person inside of me must have supressed them in fear, but I don't not want that. It's scarier to not understand it."_

"_Then, Mr Weiss, I think you've found your answer."_

"_Yes, thank you. Sir."_

* * *

Guertena Weiss is no easy man to get surprised. He created the Fabricated World, allowed three paintings into the real world as an experiment, and offered to teach a fellow artist his style of reanimating art.

However, said artist took in his teaching like a fish to water. Within an hour of giving her the bare basics, young Ib has already manage to connect a portal to the real world.

While Guertena gaped as the numerous attempts Ib had created. Ib was at a corner, frowning. Each attempt to draw a man she has envisioned in her mind was suddenly cut off and replaced by some idea. She frowned at herself for getting easily distracted, this wasn't how she was.

_This time… This time I'll finish it!_

First, start off with the basic shape of the head…

_Wait… wouldn't that shape make a perfect Orange?_

Ignore those thoughts, start drawing down the purple strands of hair…

_Hey, it reminds me of an upside-down rose… Only it would be blue and-_

Shake away those thoughts, start with the eyes and mouth…

_I think it looks better without a body…_

Start drawing the body.

_The neck is too thick, the shape makes him look fat…_

Add in the tattered cloak.

_He he, it looks pretty cool without a body, we should stop here…_

Remove those thoughts, draw the plain green singlet and pants…

_I'm pretty bad at drawing shoes, though…_

Guertena looked over her shoulder in fascination as she silently concentrated on sending her spirit into the piece of painting, willing it to take form of the man she frequently failed to envision. Around her laid her many attempts, each time distracted by an idea that came up randomly.

The man is done, where is he at now?

_He's standing at a counselling office._

Draw the lily white floorings and sun-yellow lighting.

_He's holding a blonde girl's hand._

Ib's hesitated momentarily at that thought. What's going on? Why is her mind telling her all that information suddenly? Usually it never gives help to her, giving her other ideas of what she should do with the picture she was drawing now…

_The man is shocked, as if he's looking through a glass and seeing something he's never seen before._

Shrink the pupil, widen the size of the whites.

_The blonde seems genuinely curious about what's she was seeing, almost fascinated by the glass the man was staring at._

Add in the surprised reaction of the young girl, her blue eyes, sparkling in delight.

_The lights are actually dim…_

Guertena watches on, half horrified at what she was drawing, has awed in drawing something she seems to have no knowledge on.

Ib finishes the drawing quickly, switching over to the paint she request him to bring. It was his own collection of paint, which he rather not use too often. Even though he could always create more, he didn't want the world to be filled with empty paint cans.

With precise strokes, she expertly moved the paintbrush such that the paint snuggled comfortably with the lines around them. Within a couple of minutes, the midnight blue coat was quickly coloured with the man's exposed skin. Beside him was the Blonde, dressed in a simple white shirt and forest green skirt. Around the girls free hand, Ib slowly and steadily dress the lighter held tightly in her hand. She didn't like the idea of having such an item, especially near a young girl. What if she got herself burnt?

The characters in the picture were quickly done. Ib simply moved on to the background. Her mind told her that the lighting was rather dim for such a brightly coloured room, so she took such shades of yellow and splashed it on the walls and ceiling

What would have taken Guertena months to imagine, was quickly created by Ib in an couple of hours after learning the basics. Guertena was uncertain who the young woman was.

"Just who are you…?" Ib gave a glance at her friend, confused about what he said.

"I'd told you, I'm Ib."

"No, no… what is your real name?" Guertena surprised her with that question. Not many people knew that that wasn't her real name. Ib bit her lip slightly, unsure of telling her friend the truth.

"It's okay, I won't leave you just because I found out your real name. You are one of the few true friends I have as well."

"…" Ib silently debated with herself, before answering.

"Isabella 'Ib' Maria Krux."

* * *

Mary wasn't sure what she was doing here. Her parents had told her they were coming here to help her, but she was fine. Sure she gets nightmares about being a painting and taking the place of a girl named "Ib", but that's all in her mind. She's was definitely real, and there was no "Ib".

But they were her parents, they knew better, she countered with a sigh. The place was pretty bright and bubbly for her, but the morose look of everyone else kept her down. No one wanted to play with her, no one wanted to be happy for some reason.

Mary continued sitting down patiently for her turn, but she was extremely bored. Looking around, she caught a sight she has no seen for a while.

The lavender hair with black roots of Garry Weiss.

"GARRY!" She squealed and bounded headfirst into his body.

"Oof! Wha- Mary?" He exclaims in surprise.

"Hi there! How are you! What are you doing here? Are you okay? Did you come here for help? Why aren't you answering? Are you listening?" Garry was stunned by the bombardment of question coming from the young blonde he had met a month ago.

"Whoa, Whoa… Slow down! I can't answer you that fast!"

"Huh? That's fast? That wasn't fast! This is fast! Sallysoldseashellsbytheseashore!" Mary brightly replied, happy to see a familiar face.

"Okay, that was fast… In that order; Hi, I'm not doing good, I'm having some mental problems, I'm not okay, Yes."

"You didn't answer my last two questions…" Mary sulked.

"Er… Because you were speaking too fast, and Yes?" Garry meekly replied

"Well… phooey, I wasn't speaking that fast…"

"Ah, anyway, what about you? How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine, but my parent brought me here to get help because of my dreams."

"Dreams? I'm also having problems with that too."

"Really? Do you dream about two other people with you? Do you dream about a brunette committing… s-su-see…cede?" How did her parent pronounce that again?

"Suicide?"

"Ah! That word!"

"Strange, I get those dreams as well…" Garry scratched his head as he recalled the recent dream.

"You too? Really? I kept having dreams that you and some girl named Ib were together. I was fake, I think, and you didn't like me. Do you hate me?" Mary shyly asked about the last part, it wouldn't do to anger him if so.

"We-well… Not that I don't like you or anything. But something about you just makes me want to stay away from you. Like you are Poison Ivy…"

"Poison Ivy? That's like Ivy right? Only poisoned. How does it feel to be poisoned?"

"I don't know, I've never been poisoned before…" Garry could only sweat at the sight of Mary bouncing all over the place. As the two continued chatting, they failed to notice the flickering of lights till too late.

"What? Why are the rooms darker than before!?" Garry half-shouted at the corridor.

"And no one's here anymore? Where did they go?" Mary muttered, afraid of what is going to happen. Garry looked at the shaking blonde, unsure of what to do.

"M-maybe we s-should look around?" Mary timidly suggested. Garry nodded his head silently, he didn't trust his voice to calm the young girl down, despite his warning bells setting off.

Turning around the corridor, Garry noticed a new painting at the left of the wall. It was a similar to the picture of Noble Sacrifice, it showed the same female, cradling a blue and yellow rose. As a descendant of a renowned painter, he peered at it, curious about the artist who drew such a strange picture.

"My sacrifice, by Guertena Weiss." He read out loud. Strangely, he didn't recall a picture like that drawn by his great-grandfather.

"For the sake of my friends, I offer myself to the darkness. For light cannot exist without its shadow."

"Sounds creepy, we should move on…" Mary shakily replied.

"Good idea…" As they attempted to exit the place, each door was locked suddenly.

"What… every door we tried is locked…" Garry nervously replied. He felt like he had gone through this before. Passing by the painting again, he noticed that the girl was gone.

"You saw a girl standing in this portrait, right?" He nervously asked the blonde beside him, who was staring at the space of the painting.

"Yes… No… I don' really know… I think so…" She rambled as he tried to touch the painting. A chill went down his spine as he nearly fell into it.

"I-I expected that." He stuttered, trying to make himself look strong. Seeing his antics, Mary giggled as he searched through his pockets for the lighter.

"Uhm… Why do I have a second light…? Oh never mind, Mary, do you want to light up the painting?" He offered as he started making his way into the portrait. What choice did they have?

"Wow…" was the only replied he got as she stared in fascination at the blank room.

"What's so fascinating? There's nothing here…" He asked.

"Huh? You don't see it? There's a drawing of a lady around this room. A red-dressed one in front of us-"Unconsciously, he moved away from the said wall.

"W-well, we have a passageway to our sides, which one do you want to go?"

"Let's try the left first." Mary suggested, not noticing the yellow and blue rose on the right passageway. A mistake they would pay dearly.

Along the left corridor, Garry spotted a large number of strange paintings. They ranged from an orange drawn way too round (Perfection), a floating head with a tattered blue cloak (Helplessness) to a upside-down blue coloured rose (Sacrifice). At the end of the corridor stood a gigantic statue of a blue rose, life-like and healthy, but some of the petals are on the floor.

"Strange, the rose looks healthy, but there are petals on the floor." Garry sniffed as he spoke. Marry turned around to ask why when she saw the tears on his face.

"Huh? I'm crying? Again? Why…?" He asked as he rubbed away the tears. Mary too was sobbing slightly.

"Are you okay?"

"Wh-What did I do? W-was it something I-I said? Wh-why am I crying as w-well? I-I'll be g-good…" she whimpered. The fragility on her face make Garry want to protect her with his own life.

"Don't worry, we'll find out." He assured her as he bent down to read the description of the sculpture.

_Embodiment of Impossibility._

_Something which will never happen once again. You had your chance and you lost it._

To the left of the description was an open letter.

_You and the rose are united, know the weight of your own life._

As Garry read out the text to Mary, he wondered where the roses' that held his and Mary's life were. At the end of that trail of though, white-hot pain surged through his body.

"G-Garry?" Mary asked when Garry gasped in pain.

"Y-yes?" He mumbled weakly, the pain was intensifying and his vision was blurring.

"A-are you okay?" Mary asked, rather concerned about him.

"D-don't worry, let's check the other room." He told her as he led the young blonde away from the blue sculpture.

Mary timidly looked down onto the floor as they walked, what was going on? Garry was reading the description of the Blue sculpture when he gave out a cry of pain. Even though she did asked about it, he waved it off.

"_He loves me…"_

A distance voice came out in front of the hallway. Mary brightened up, hopefully whoever it was could relieve Garry of his pain. She ran forward to get help.

"Wait!" Garry weakly called out to her.

"_He loves me not…"_

Mary opened the door to look straight at the face of an elegant woman, dressed in red. The strangest thing was that she was half stuck in the frame. In her hand was a single blue rose, similar to the one that the brunette was carrying in that picture.

Mary was stuck in a situation, she felt that the blue rose was important to Garry as was the yellow rose next to the lady in red. But the lady was not human, she was afraid of what might happen if it had spotted her.

Mary could hear the ragged breathing of Garry, and knew he was getting worse. Maybe, maybe the rose was his life? Garry did read out that she and the rose was united, maybe he felt pain when the petals are snapped off.

That would mean they would die here if she didn't do anything about it…

With a deep breath, Mary barged into the room, startling the Lady in Red, quickly she scooped up both roses ran ahead into the other corridor!

"Give me back those flowers!" The Lady screech as the door closed behind her. Mary gulped as she stared at the badly-damaged blue rose, how must she heal it?

Plants need water, but this one wasn't like that plants in the real world. Glancing around the room, she saw a vase of water in front of another painting.

Would the painting come to life? She carefully took step by step until she was standing in front of the vase. Cautiously, she placed the rose into the vase.

The results were immediately, the blue rose came back to life. But Mary was startled by another thing; as soon as she had placed the roses into the vase, the letters 'E, F, H, I, T' appeared all around her. Thief? But she didn't steal anything…

Mary stood by the vase, waiting for something – anything, to jump out at her for a while. While nothing happened, she went to check if the vase had any more water.

"None what so ever…" she sighed, not surprised. Why? She didn't know either, maybe she expected it to do so.

How was she going to get back though, she didn't want to run pass the Lady in Red again, the way she screeched and chased her will definitely give her nightmares.

I don't have much of a choice though, she sighed once again.

As she near closer and closer towards the door, she could hear grumbling and complaining from the other side.

"…Mary… why… rose…?" were some of the words she could make out. Taking a deep breath, she slowly opened the door, and tiptoed towards the opposite side.

Unfortunately, she was rather loud as the painting turned its head and spotted Mary.

"What are you doing here?" Was the first sentence that popped out of the lady's mouth. Seeing her chance, she bolted for the door.

"Wait! Mary! Come back!" The Lady in Red shrieked as she slammed the door hard behind her. Without a thought, Mary sprinted down the corridor and found Garry trying to regain his breath.

"Garry! W-w-w-we gotta go! We gotta go!" She persuaded him and pulled him towards the rose sculpture.

"Huh? Go where? That side was blocked by the statue, remember?" He told Mary. Never the less, Mary pulled him along to the other end, to see the ashen remains of the sculpture. Both the stalk and the petals were burnt to a crisp, with a single red petal at the side of it.

"W-what happened…?" Garry could only utter out. Behind the sculpture was another door, they entered the next room. Unaware of the true meaning of the message left behind by the Embodiment of Impossibility.

* * *

**Yay! Another chapter done! What did you think about the hidden message in the Embodiment of Impossibility?**

**Ib: -looks up from her painting- there was a hidden message?**

**Er… not one, not two, but a large number.**

**Ib: … -looks at the Embodiment of Impossibility-**

**Er… what are you doing?**

**Ib: Trying to figure out one of the meanings.**

**Er… you do that, tell me what you'd think about those message (with your guys' assistance, of course!) See you in the next chapter!**

**Ib: Don't forget to review!**

**Oi! Ib! **


End file.
